Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me!

A Sermon Delivered at

The Compassion Internet Church

By Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

23 September 2012

Scripture References:

Jonah 1:1-3, 4:11
Mark 10:46-52

There is something very special about our coming together and being able
to share some of our feelings, whether of concern or joy, and how we came to
be here.

From all the emails and other communications we have received, it appears
that most of us have come together seeking a sanctuary from all the hardness
of heart we have encountered that is directed toward the animals and
the people who care about them and don’t eat them.

And the tragedy is that most of this hardness of heart was encountered in
the churches and from others claiming to be Christians.

As we’ve been discussing the past couple of weeks, many want to receive
God’s mercy, but relatively few are willing to give it unconditionally to
all other living beings, whether human or otherwise.

God has dealt with each of us, individually, in a unique and special way.

Yet at the same time, He has given us the same message: “Come! Follow Me!”

And at the same time, we so often have found ourselves crying out, “O Lord,
have mercy on the animals! O Lord, have mercy on me!”

I heard the cries of the Jonahs, who knew that they were called to deliver
God’s message to some Nineveh.

To refresh our memory, let’s look at Jonah 1-3.

1. The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,

2. "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their
wickedness has come up before Me."

3. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So
he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the
fare, and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of
the Lord.

I suspect that just about everyone who has joined us has heard that call
from the Lord, and we get email all the time confirming the same thing.

But we also get a lot of comments from people who just don’t want to buck
the hardness of heart toward animals that they encounter every day.

But Jonah’s situation was a little different in that he knew that the Lord
was a merciful God, and would forgive the people of Nineveh, if they truly
repented.

And all Jonah wanted was to see Nineveh destroyed for their wickedness. In
other words, he wanted revenge because of their ungodliness.

We have also heard a lot of people say that they want to see the people who
cause animals to suffer to suffer in the same way, rather than praying for
them to truly recognize their evil ways, repent, and also become peacemaking
children of God.

Most of us probably know the story of Jonah, and how he finally went to
Nineveh, and how the people repented and were forgiven by God, and how Jonah
pouted in anger because of God’s grace and mercy.

But the most important aspect of this story is what God said to Jonah in the
last verse of the book, 4:11.

11. "And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which
there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between
their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"
NASB

Here are just a few of the more specific comments that we have heard.

We heard the cry of Dick as he was ready to run away: “Lord, it’s too much!
I can’t learn all this stuff; I’m not qualified. I can’t take the
responsibility of being a pastor.”

Yet Dick is still on the road to Nineveh.

And all the time that I was listening to Dick, I was hearing my own heart
crying out, “O Lord, what am I doing here?”

I heard John who, in his run away from the Lord, actually threw himself into
the sea.

Yet he too is back on the road to Nineveh preparing to deliver God’s
message.

Maybe all of us didn’t have the Jonah problem, but we all passed through
times in our journey here when we cried out as Bartimaeus did: “Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me!”

I heard that cry from Don as he told us about his deliverance from drugs and
alcohol.

And I’m still hearing the echoes of Vadia’s cry and of that inner torment
she went through.

“Lord, have mercy on me!”

And we’re constantly hearing the echoes and reverberations from people who
are praying for God to have mercy on the animals, and to give them the
strength to do more to free creation from its present corruption.

Let’s now take a look at our New Testament lesson, Mark 10:46-52, and see
how this all applies to our lives as it did to Bartimaeus.

46. And they came to Jericho. And as He [Jesus] was going out from Jericho
with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus,
the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road.

47. And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out
and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48. And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out
all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Every one of us had a time in our life, before we knew Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior, when He passed by us, just as He probably did with Bartimaeus,
as He came into Jericho.

But there came that one very special day when we finally recognized Him.

We were spiritually blind, but on that day our spiritual eyes were opened;
we saw all the corruption in the world and our part in it, and we repented
and began to cry out to Him.

Bartimaeus’ recognition probably occurred after Jesus had entered the city.

And when he heard that it was Jesus coming out of the city, the deep inner
urgency welled up inside of him, and he knew he had to come to Him.

Can you feel that same kind of panicky feeling that Bartimaeus must have
felt as he heard that great throng of people coming out with Him?

“What am I going to do?”

“I’m blind. How am I ever going to get to Him?”

“I don’t even know which one of the people is Jesus!”

“He’s not just Jesus the Nazarene. He’s my Messiah. He’s the Son of David.”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“O Lord, I need You! Don’t leave me behind! I need You!”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“O That crowd! They’re making so much noise that He will never hear me. What
am I going to do?”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49. And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind
man, saying to him, “Take courage, arise! He is calling for you.”

Can you feel deep down inside what Bartimaeus must have been experiencing at
that moment?

50. And casting aside his cloak, he jumped up, and came to Jesus.

Bartimaeus was no longer the same person.

He knew that he would never be the same again.

He was no longer going to be a lost beggar.

So he cast aside his beggar’s clothing, and jumped up and went to Jesus,
knowing that he would be made new.

51. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And
the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”

Jesus didn’t have to ask him what he wanted. He knew that already.

He just wanted Bartimaeus to express verbally what he really wanted, so that
it would reinforce his faith.

Note also that he wasn’t blind from birth. Somewhere along the way, he had
lost his vision, but now he was ready to regain it.

52. And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And
immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

And which way was he going to go?

Which way was Bartimaeus’ way?

It was to follow Jesus...just like us.

And all the time I was working on this message, I kept hearing the billions
upon billions of animals in this world crying out for mercy just as
Bartimaeus did.

My precious sisters and brothers don’t ever forget that precious moment of
your own conversion when you became a new creature in Christ Jesus.

No matter how bad a situation may seem at the time, or how deep the hurt,
never forget that moment when Jesus entered your life.

And likewise, if we had turned aside for a season, never forget the welcome
we received when we came back.

Hopefully, in the process, we also gave up any of the remaining hardness we
had left in our heart, and truly desired to be the peacemaking children of
God Jesus called us to be.

No matter how frustrating and aggravating a situation may be, look back to
those moments and rejoice.

Jesus Christ has set us free.

As we are to help set creation free.

Hang in there like Joe did when he first walked those dirty streets of North
Philadelphia, and had the absolute audacity to smile and say hello to
someone, even when they wouldn’t answer.

And he kept doing it.

And they mocked him: “Who is that crazy fool?”

But he kept doing it day after day.

And do you know what this loving, precious, crazy fool did next?

He went out onto that dirty, filthy sidewalk and began to sweep up the dirt.
He even cleaned the gutter.

And when someone would deliberately throw more litter on the sidewalk, he
would just go out and clean it up again.

And they continued to mock him: “Look at that crazy fool now! He has to be
nuts!”

This kept going on day after day, until one day one of the mockers said in
his heart, “That crazy fool is still at it. He’s so crazy I’m going to
help him.”

Then another joined the band of the crazies, and they cleaned together.

And do you know what happened?

The whole neighborhood became clean, and it is still clean to this day.

Thanks, Joe, for sharing that story.

We, like many of you, have been mocked and chided for speaking out for those
who can’t speak for themselves in the hope that God would have mercy on them
as He did for the animals of Nineveh.

We also are crazy fools for Christ, and we often get mocked for that, too,
especially when we tie it together with spreading Jesus’ love and mercy to
the animals.

And God is saying to each of us, “There is a lot of blindness out there in
the midst of all that litter. Clean it up so that the blind may regain their
sight.”

But He hasn’t told us how much litter we have to pick up before the blind
can see again.

He also hasn’t really told us how long it will take. He has just told us to
follow Him and clean up the trash and replace it with our testimony of being
the peacemaking children of God who will help free creation from its present
corruption.

Maybe that person’s blindness will be healed if I pick up just one more
piece of trash.

Maybe it will take even more work than that.

Maybe the work will never end!

And as that trash pile of selfishness, cruelty, indifference, injustice, and
corruption builds up around us, we have to constantly remember to empty it,
lest we also become blinded in the process of helping all others, whether
human or nonhuman.

Once again we all will have to cry out, “O Lord! Have mercy on the animals!
O Lord! Have mercy on me!”